sandik

Thanks for the times -- this is always a busy time of the year.

Thank you for the eyewitness reports! I only saw her perform a few times (I couldn't afford to go regularly), but she was indeed the leading dancer of her time. One of my colleagues described her dancing as "cool and crisp, like a stream." It was interesting to me that she spoke about her feeling that she "grew up with the company," since I never perceived her as anything other than assured.

Apparently Charles will swear to defend all faiths, not just the CofE -- so the pagans are in there!

Many thoughts, but right now I'll just point out that the only dance writers to win Pulitzers were Kriegsman and Kaufman, writing in the Post.

Thanks!

Well, there's a cast list at IMDB -- it's full of folks! And here is the official website. There are a number of excerpts here, including interview footage. It's not being shown in Seattle at the upcoming film festival, which is a disappointment, so I'll have to hope it makes it to a streaming service.

The impression I get is that many companies and rights holders were justifiably worried at the beginning of the pandemic shutdowns -- no one knew how long those restrictions would be in force, and if audiences would drift away to other interests. Vaults all over the place that had previously been shut tight were opened up, and all kinds of content was streamed, often for free. I saw things I had only ever read about -- not to quote a popular movie, but I saw a lot of dead people dance. And I was thrilled. People who held the rights to work were willing to let things go in order to keep some kind of dance available to audiences -- a very generous response as well as a smart understanding of the issues involved. My concerns now are that many of these people and institutions are moving back to the old "be here or don't see it" model -- I can understand their desire to work in an environment they understand, but I think they are missing the larger lesson. At a recent Q&A, Peter Boal at Pacific Northwest Ballet said that while they originally offered streaming in order to keep contact with their local audiences, they realized later how much broader that digital audience would become -- right now, they have digital subscribers in all 50 states, and in multiple other countries. I think that's a really good thing for the company, and in the long run, a really good thing for the art form. One anecdote -- at that Q&A, I sat next to a young woman who is originally from the UK, and had become interested in PNB after seeing a YouTube video of Carrie Imler (I think probably the infamous fouette video!), and so managed to watch the livestream of her retirement performance from her home in Brighton. Since then, she's come to the US for grad school, and flew from Vermont to Seattle in order to see the recent performances of Midsummer Night's Dream. Not everyone in the digital audience has such an impressive story, but there we are, you just don't know who's going to see your work.

And in the odd coincidence department, there are the former and current artistic directors of the company getting the DM award at the same time. Now if I could work Savion Glover into this somehow, I'd have a trifecta. A couple of my colleagues have interviewed Russell in a general way (that is, not keyed to a specific article), but I'm not sure that they talked much about her work in the bigger world as a Balanchine representative. I'll ask around... It's interesting how the heel changes the whole shape of his foot, even when he's not bearing weight on it. All the tendu moments are very different.

Oh bingo! I remember seeing that photo, but could think where. Although there were Russian expats teaching in China as early as the 1910s (Fonteyn's first teacher was a Russian expat, working in Shanghai in the 1920s) consistent training for Chinese dancers didn't really take hold until the 1950s, and was primarily Russian, with teachers sent as a kind of diplomatic project by Stalin's government. They taught what they knew, and the nascent Chinese ballet presented the second act of Swan Lake in 1958. Thanks for posting the photo -- this has been a lovely rabbit hole!

From the press release Pacific Northwest Ballet announces the passing of former Principal Dancer Deborah Hadley (1951 - 2023). SEATTLE, WA - With great sadness and on behalf of her family, Pacific Northwest Ballet announces the sudden passing of Deborah Hadley, PNB’s original prima ballerina. Hadley joined PNB in 1979 and reigned as a Principal Dancer for 13 years. In reporting on her retirement, Carole Beers of The Seattle Times described Hadley as “the ballerina who shaped PNB’s look.” And PNB Founding Artistic Director Kent Stowell, at that time, commented that “What was wonderful about Debby, a message I would send to all dancers, is that she was a true collaborator, a partner in choreography. She had trust and belief, was a willing instrument. When a choreographer finds that, it’s like striking gold.” Upon her retirement from PNB, Ms. Hadley founded the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond, WA, and subsequently became the Ballet Mistress of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet. Hadley’s accomplishments cannot be overstated, even though she often underplayed them herself. She did, however, acknowledge - on occasion - the level of her achievements: “I’ve broken almost every rule in the book,” she told a Los Angeles Times reporter in 1988. “I wasn’t trained at a large ballet school. I didn’t train with the intention of becoming a professional dancer. I stopped dancing at a critical time. I have two children and I’m a single parent. That makes me very unique.” “Debby was our star, adored by our audiences and her colleagues, and the inspiration for the young dancers who followed her,” said PNB Founding Artistic Director Francia Russell. “Memories of her in a host of ballets will be in all our heads and hearts forever. For Kent and me she was also a beloved friend.” “To everyone whose lives were touched by our amazing Mom, it was reciprocal and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said her sons Brandon and Brian Kickbush. “When Mom retired from dancing, she continued to soar by learning to fly and getting a pilot’s license to accompany her husband. “The cause nearest and dearest to Mom’s heart was bringing art to all children. The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, gifts to organizations in support of arts for children would be meaningful and appreciated.” Deborah Hadley was born and raised in San Diego, and began her studies at the San Diego Ballet continuing to the rank of principal dancer with the regional company. She went on to become a charter member of the Joffrey II in 1969. Taking time off to marry and have two boys, she returned to her ballet career in 1979 when she joined Pacific Northwest Ballet, where she remained a Principal Dancer for the next thirteen years. Ms. Hadley’s distinguished performing career also included appearances as a guest artist with Kozlov and Stars, Godunov and Stars, and in the title role of Giselle with Antony Dowell, in addition to many companies across the United States. With PNB, her leading roles in full-length ballets included Odette/Odile, Juliet, Cinderella, Swanilda, and Titania, as well as in major works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Antony Tudor, Glen Tetley, Clark Tippet, Paul Taylor, Lar Lubovitch, Vicente Nebrada and Val Caniparoli, some of which were created for her. Kent Stowell created many original works for her, including Pas de Deux Campagnolo, Orpheus Portrait, and the ballet that she considered the highlight of her career, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Upon retiring from her PNB performing career, Ms. Hadley founded the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in Redmond, Washington. She subsequently became the Ballet Mistress of the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet (now known as Texas Ballet Theater). Ms. Hadley served as Adjudicator for several RDA regions and was instrumental in helping The Ballet Alliance (an association of pre-professional ballet companies) specify its technical and artistic standards. She most recently taught privately and served as a Guest Teacher and Ambassador for The Ballet Alliance.

I'll post the press release elsewhere, but wanted to say something here in the PNB forum about her. I was able to go to the panel discussion during the recent run of Midsummer Night’s Dream, celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary. I had thought I might post my notes from the conversation, but in light of Deborah Hadley’s unexpected death, I’m just going to excerpt her comments for now – I hope to come back and fill in the blanks later. Hadley was the most senior member of the panel – other participants were Angela Sterling and Eric Hippolito, with Kiyon Ross as the moderator. Hadley started dancing in her home town of San Diego at age 7, and moved to NYC to join the Joffrey II company at 17. She was disturbed by her experience there, and went back to California where she said she “left ballet” and had two children. Visiting her sister Tamara (who was with Pennsylvania Ballet) she took some classes, and felt that perhaps she could still be dancing in some capacity. Her sister encouraged her to continue, and mentioned that there was a young company getting started in Seattle with Kent Stowell and Francia Russell in charge. Hadley was skeptical (according to her, she hadn’t danced seriously in 6 years), but did eventually audition, and was hired in 1979. (a 26 week contract at $275/week). She retired from the company in 1991, and went on to teach and coach. Answering Ross’s question “what kept you here for such a long time”, she said “What else would I want?” Russell and Stowell took care of their dancers. “I came from a good basis, and the company was in the same place – we grew up together.” She was the ballerina at the beginning of the company, when things were still pretty young. She retired before the company built their current home at the Seattle Center – she remembers rehearsing the pas de deux for Stowell’s “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet” in the basement of the Good Shepherd Center. (which if you're not familiar with it, was "a home for wayward girls" until the early 1970s) When asked about favorite roles, her list is pretty much a roll call of the early rep, including the Romeo, Voluntaries, The Cage, a number of Balanchine works, and several pas de deux by Stowell that were made on her. Ross asked for more details about Stowell’s Romeo, and Hadley said she didn’t often talk about it – the sense she gave is that the whole process was fairly private. She did say that Stowell allowed himself to be very vulnerable, and would try things that were outside his usual material. Apparently he wouldn’t let Russell come and watch the process. Ross asked for “embarrassing stories” from performances, and Hadley told a couple that were based around Midsummer. In general, she was considered short for Titiania – during one run of the ballet Michael Auer put a booster seat in the shell where Titania sleeps. And during another performance, again with Michael Auer, they had a glitchy rehearsal with the Divertisment pas de deux – at the end of the duet, where he turns her over after she leans forward and falls into his arms, the turning got out of hand, and she almost rolled off onto the floor. Talking about her long experience working on the Balanchine repertory with Francia Russell, Hadley said that it was always the simplest choice that was the most effective. She did admit, though, that when she first joined the company, she had never seen a Balanchine ballet (this was long before the internet, or even before home video). When she said this to Russell, “I felt like I told the Pope I’d never read the Bible.” And when asked how she knew when to retire, she said that she was turning 40 during her last run of Romeo and Juliet. She felt she was dancing at her peak, in the ballet she loved best – it was the time to stop. She didn’t say anything to anyone until it was the last performance – she told her partner Ben Houck backstage before curtain, and that was it. I didn’t get to see her perform very often – her career was mostly before I was working as a dance critic, and I couldn’t afford to go to the ballet very often, but what I do remember is someone who danced with clarity and authority. You could tell that she was showing you the real choreography.

I tried to register for the streaming option, and was told it was "sold out" -- not sure how that happens for an online program, but will try again later. A few minutes later -- and now it worked. The internet is still full of mysteries!

Let me know what you think. And in the meantime, remember the sunscreen.

The internet continues to shift, and conversations move from place to place (I entered this world through Usenet, which makes me a dinosaur of sorts!). But I am sorry to realize that the momentum seems to have left BT4D -- it was a great community and served a real purpose for its citizens.

I taught dance history in various places for a number of years, so I empathize with your desire! At the risk of adding to your "to be read" list, you might be interested in Deborah Jowitt's "Time and the Dancing Image." As well as her work as a dance critic, she also taught dance history at NYU, and was intent on showing her students the cultural and political context of the works she discussed. Her book is a distillation of those lectures.

I had a moment with this earlier in the week, reading through an essay about the early days of Pacific Northwest Ballet. Melissa Hayden, who was the artistic director for about a year in the mid-seventies, set a version of the ballet on the young and small company. When Kent Stowell and Francia Russell arrived to take over the ensemble, he made a version of the work that was a bit more complex and offered some great opportunities for dancers to move up (Julie Tobiason had one of her first big successes as Swanhilda in that production.) And now the company dances the Balanchine/Danilova production. The essay mentioned all three, but didn't really make the differences clear -- it needed a bit more editing. There are so many heritage works in the ballet repertory that exist in the same way -- multiple versions made for different groups at different points in their development -- sometimes I wish for the dance equivalent of Ancestry.com, to help trace all the ins and outs!

!!!

ooooh!

It's taken a while, but it's finally opened in NYC. Reviewed here.

Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet has announced a round of new appointments -- Noelani Pantastico has been named Artistic Director. https://www.citybiz.co/article/405988/central-pennsylvania-youth-ballet-appoints-noelani-pantastico-as-artistic-director/

I squeaked when I heard that -- such a great next act!

Thank you for this -- I hadn't seen it when it was first published.

Rummaging around online, and realized that this is still available online.

I don't have any specific information, but the impression I get just looking around at programming in general is that many companies don't seem to do as many "All ____" projects as they have in the past. I remember when Hubbard Street was run by NDT alumni and were programming a lot of work in that tradition -- I think they had some "All Kylian" programs. PNB did that a few years ago (the Mozarts along with Forgotten Land), but you're right -- it's not that common these days. I don't know what the artist's fees are for his work, but I know they're not cheap. Peter Boal has often mentioned that he likes to program more than one work by a choreographer, so that we get the chance to know their rep in a broader way -- we've been lucky that he has that interest. (and I just want to say that I'm looking forward to Cacti as well as the Mozarts!)

Seth Orza has been working diligently on developing a new soft ballet shoe with internal support (especially in the sole) -- it looks like he's ready for business!